Car rental in Paro, Bhutan comes with one rule that changes everything: foreign visitors cannot rent self-drive cars - Bhutan permits only chauffeur-driven vehicles for international travellers, arranged through registered Bhutanese operators, and this is national policy rather than a supplier gap. In practice the system works smoothly: your tour operator or a registered car service assigns a vehicle and licensed local driver, handles Paro airport pickup, and manages the route permits required for travel beyond Paro and Thimphu, with immigration checkpoints verifying documentation along the way. The reasoning is practical - the mountain roads are steep, narrow and often fogbound, and local drivers train on them - and economic, keeping tourism income with Bhutanese drivers. Budget accordingly: the driver-included vehicle is a standard, predictable line item of a Bhutan itinerary.
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